AMSCO 2.3 The Regions of the British Colonies Notes

Topic 2.3

📍Topic 2.3 The Regions of British Colonies

📖 AMSCO p.38 - p.48

Main Idea

Key Timeline

Image Courtesy of Sameeha

Things to Know

Early English Settlements

Jamestown

• Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, founded the first permanent English Colony of Jamestown in 1607
• Its location is in a swamp caused outbreaks of disease such as malaria
• Conflicts with Native Americans stopped trade and led to starvation
• Captain John Smith’s leadership and the help of John Rolfe and wife Pocahontas led the colony to develop the profitable tobacco
• Virginia created the head right system - 50 acres of land given to anyone who paid for the passage of a settler to the colony
• After the multiple problems faced by the colony, King James I revoked the company charter and took direct control.
• Became the first royal colony

Plymouth

• Founded by English Protestants - Separatists - who wished to organize a separate church independent of royal connections, also known as Pilgrims
• Set aboard the Mayflower in 1620 and established a new colony at Plymouth
• Fish, furs, and lumber were their source of economy

Massachusetts Bay Colony

• Founded by Puritans seeking religious freedom
• Led by John Winthrop and founded Boston
• Due to religion differences and conflicts, multiple Puritans left Massachusetts Bay and founded their own settlements around New England.
• Commerce and agriculture based economy

Religion and Maryland

• First proprietary colony granted to Lord Baltimore
• His son, Cecil Calvert, wanted to provide a refuge for Catholics and created the Act of Toleration
• The Act of Toleration was the first legislation in the colonies that provided freedom of religion to all Christians
• Protestants were angered by a Catholic leader and revolted, repealing the Act of Toleration
• Maryland economy/society was similar to Virginia

New England Development

Rhode Island

• Founded by Roger Williams, a Puritan who taught that individual conscious was beyond the control of authority
• Banished from Boston and founded Providence in 1636, starting one of the first Baptist churches
• Allowed Catholics, Quakers, and Jews
• Anne Hutchinson also questioned Puritan doctrines and founded Portsmouth; later merged to Providence making Rhode Island

Connecticut

• Thomas Hooker led Boston puritans and founded Hartford in 1636
• Wrote Fundamentals Orders of Connecticut
• The King’s royal charter allowed the colony to minimal self-government policies, such as the election of a governor.

New Hampshire

• Last colony to be founded in New England
• King Charles separated it from Massachusetts Bay Colony to try to gain more royal control over the colonies
• Was made a royal colony

Halfway Covenant

• In an effort to maintain influence, the church established the Halfway Covenant
• Nevertheless, as the years passed, strict Puritan practices weakened in most New England communities in order to maintain Church membership.

Restoration Colonies

The Carolinas

• Charles II gave land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to 8 nobles; South and North Carolina was formed from this
• South Carolina
  • Initially based on trading furs and providing food to West Indies, later focused on rice-growing plantations, worked on by enslaved Africans
• North Carolina
  • Location had poor transportation, making it less reliant on slaves and large plantations; instead focused on small, self-sufficient tobacco farms and made use of indentured servants

New York

• A Middle colony located between New England Colonies and Chesapeake Colonies, making Dutch give up New Amsterdam
• Owner was Duke of York (future King James II)
• Dutch settlers were given freedom of worship and ability to speak their own language
• James forced taxation without representation and allowed for no assemblies, facing resistance from the settlers

New Jersey

• An area in New York was split into two
• Each section offered a lot of land and allowed the practice of religious freedom & assembly
• Eventually sold to Quakers, who combined both properties

Pennsylvania

• William Penn joined the Quakers and wanted to provide a refuge for them and other persecuted people
• Created Frame of Government and Charter of Liberties
• Attempted to treat American Indians fairly

Delaware

• William Penn granted lower 3 counties of Pennsylvania their own assembly in 1702
• Became a separate colony but shared the same governor as Pennsylvania until American Revolution

Georgia

• Final British Colony between Canada and Caribbean and was the only one to receive direct financial support from the government
• Was made to create a defensive barrier for South Carolina plantations from Spanish in Florida as well as a place to send imprisoned debtors in England
• James Oglethorpe was the governor and put strict regulations but did not prosper due to constant threat of Spanish attack
• Later became a royal colony with plantations like South Carolina

Early Political Institution

• House of Burgesses established in Virginia promised settlers the same rights as residents in England
• Mayflower Compact was an early form of self-government
• Females and landless males had few rights, indentured servants had little to no rights, and enslaved people had no rights

Terms to Remember

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